Kaohsiung mayor and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential hopeful Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) is to hold a rally as scheduled on Saturday at a night market in Hualien, despite a devastating fire there early yesterday, several KMT councilors said yesterday.
The blaze, which broke out at the Dongdamen Night Market in Hualien City at about 1am and burned 42 stalls to the ground, was extinguished after an hour, the Hualien County Fire Department said.
There were no casualties as most of the stalls were closed at the time, the department said, adding that it was investigating the cause of the fire.
Photo: CNA
The fire has not deterred Han from seeking public support in eastern Taiwan for his presidential bid, as a rally in Taipei on Saturday drew nearly 400,000 people chanting: “Han Kuo-yu, president of the common people,” his organizers said.
A local news report said that police estimates put the crowd at 70,000 people.
The Hualien rally is to proceed as scheduled, KMT Taipei city councilors Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇), Tai Hsi-chin (戴錫欽) and Wang Hsin-i (王欣儀) and New Taipei City Councilor Tang Hui-lin (唐慧琳) confirmed at a press conference.
Meanwhile, more than 10 Democratic Progressive Party Kaohsiung city councilors called on Han to step down as mayor to focus on his presidential bid, saying that the city’s environmental, health and traffic problems have worsened since he assumed office on Dec. 25 last year.
The KMT is set to release a final list of candidates to take part in its presidential primary on Monday next week.
They include Han, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘), former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), KMT Legislator Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), former Taipei County commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) and National Taiwan University political science professor Chang Ya-chung (張亞中).
Han is the only one of the six who has not yet officially announced his intention to compete in the primary, having said only that he does not oppose the idea of the party including his name.
The KMT plans to select its presidential candidate based on the results of public opinion polls, which are to be conducted by five polling firms from July 5 to July 15.
The winner is to be officially announced on July 28.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
Taiwan next year plans to launch its first nationwide census on elderly people living independently to identify the estimated 700,000 seniors to strengthen community-based healthcare and long-term care services, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said on the sidelines of a healthcare seminar that the nation’s rapidly aging population and declining birthrate have made the issue of elderly people living alone increasingly pressing. The survey, to be jointly conducted by the MOHW and the Ministry of the Interior, aims to establish baseline data and better allocate care resources, he
RSS